Miracle Baby
by HarmonyAk
Summary: Sheppard's team finds a bundle of joy. Teyla gets maternal. For that matter, so does Sheppard.
1. Bundle of Joy

A/N: Sorry about the holder page. I have no frikkin clue what happened. Hopefully the correct chapter uploads this time (note: if you can see this page, it worked)

Disclaimer: I don't own this, etc

A/N: This story occurs somewhere after Trinity in Season 2. Contains spoilers for Sanctuary and Trinity.

oOo **  
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**Miracle Baby **

**Chapter 1 **

They stood in stunned silence staring at what was left of the town. The buildings were all still standing, although there was some scorching from fire. Everywhere they looked was evidence of people leaving in a hurry: the kind of hurry where you dropped what you were holding and ran so hard that if your shoes fell off, you didn't notice and kept going. The kind of hurry where you kicked over cooking pots, tripped over pets, and didn't notice or care of you kicked coals into your walls and set your home on fire.

"The Wraith were here," Teyla said finally, breaking the spell. It was an obvious statement, but someone had to make it so they could go on and do what needed to be done.

"Looks like it," Sheppard agreed glumly, still surveying the town. "They're gone, though, right?" He glanced at Teyla, relaxing slightly when she nodded.

"Yes. I do not sense their presence here."

"Doesn't look like anybody's home," Ronon observed. He was right. There was no sign of inhabitance. It wasn't really surprising that the survivors of the culling would want to leave their devastated village and the memories it contained. What was surprising that they wouldn't have returned for any of their belongings.

"Pretty thorough culling," Sheppard said grimly, peering into a few doorways. "Picking up any life signs?" He asked McKay, who had the detector out.

McKay shook his head grimly. "Not much. Oh wait!"

"What?"

McKay pointed to one of the buildings. "I'm getting one from there. Of course, it's equally likely to be a person, a bird, or this world's equivalent of a dog…" He trailed off as he noticed that the others were already heading to where he had indicated. "Careful!" he called after them. "It could be dangerous."

Sheppard turned to glance back, flicking his gaze meaningfully to the P-90 he was holding at the ready. "I think I can handle it, McKay. You coming?"

McKay rolled his eyes and followed his team towards the cottage with the life sign.

Sheppard went in first, flicking his gaze around the room. A soft cooing sound made him turn, as he discovered the source of the life sign. He lowered his weapon and went in for a closer look.

Bright hazel eyes gazed up to meet his own. A cherubic face surrounded by blond curls broke into a grin, and the baby cooed at him happily. "It's…a baby," Ronon said softly, peering over his shoulder.

Sheppard reached down, and the baby grabbed his finger. He smiled involuntarily. "But…why would they have left it?"

"You mean the villagers, or the Wraith?" McKay asked, coming to stand next to him. He was also looking down at the baby, but his gaze was more speculative than charmed.

"I do not believe anyone in the village survived the culling," Teyla said softly. She walked around the bassinet and reached down, gently picking up the baby without dislodging its grip from Sheppard's finger.

"So what then? They just…missed one?" Sheppard asked. "Culled everything but the kid?"

Teyla shrugged, not bothering to raise her gaze from the tiny, rosy face. "It would appear so."

Sheppard grinned, petting the curly head. "So you're a miracle baby, then!" he told it happily.

McKay rolled his eyes. "So if we're done _naming _it," he said impatiently, "I suggest we try to figure out what it's doing here."

Sheppard gave him a look. "Surviving as best it can until an adult finds it?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean," McKay said, waving a hand to indicate the baby, the bassinet, the house, and the village, "doesn't this all seem a little bit…contrived to you?"

"Rodney, what are you talking about?" Sheppard asked, confusion plain on his features.

McKay rolled his eyes and started ticking things off on his fingers. "I think I've seen this movie. Ok, one: everyone in the village was taken, _except _Wonder Baby there. Why leave one? Why wouldn't they either take all the infants, or none?"

"Well—" Sheppard started, but McKay held up a hand and kept going.

"Two: it looks like it's been a couple of days since the Wraith were here. There are no fires, and no smoke, so the fires are long dead. But the baby seems perfectly happy and healthy, which I would not expect from an infant left for more than a day by itself."

Teyla, Sheppard, and Ronon turned their eyes to the baby. That was a point. It _did _look pretty happy. Teyla shifted her grip so she could touch its face. "I believe he is running a fever," she said hesitantly. "I did not notice before, but his face is warm. Perhaps he is too disoriented to be hungry or scared?"

Sheppard took a step back. "And it smells like he's pretty ripe," he added. "Like you'd expect from a baby left for a couple days," he said, looking meaningfully at McKay.

McKay frowned. "Ok, fine. I just don't like it."

"My god, McKay!" Sheppard snapped, losing patience. "How much of a cynic do you have to _be_ to be suspicious of a _baby_?"

McKay huffed and looked away. "Fine, don't believe me. I just have a bad feeling about it."

"You have a feeling? Is your astrophysicist sense tingling?"

"Mock me all you want. But when it ends up strangling you in your sleep, don't come crying to me!" McKay turned on his heel and stomped out of the cottage.

Teyla was frowning. "I do not understand why he is so distrustful."

Sheppard shrugged. "That's just Rodney. Come on. We're not going to do any more good here, and we have to get this little guy back to Beckett."

They trooped back out after McKay, Ronon taking up position in the rear, Teyla in the middle with the baby, and Sheppard in the lead. His hand went unconsciously to his weapon, even though he doubted there was any threat here. No life signs in the village, and according to Teyla, no Wraith on the planet. They found McKay idly kicking at the coals from a dead fire.

"I suppose you'll want to take it with us," he said dully, looking at the bundle in Teyla's arms.

"Oh for the love of—" Sheppard snapped. "_Yes, _McKay, we want to take it with us! What would you have us do, leave it here do die? What he hell is wrong with you?"

McKay had the grace to look embarrassed. "I know it sounds stupid. But it just seems _off _to me."

Sheppard snorted, eyebrow cocked with seeming amusement, but his eyes were still annoyed. "Intuition? From you?"

McKay threw up his hands in exasperation. "What is _with _you people? Why the hell am I not allowed to have intuition?" He whirled and started walking briskly back to the Stargate. "Fine. Ignore the genius. You generally do." He called over his shoulder.

Teyla followed at a slower pace, talking softly to the baby. Ronon followed her, eyes and ears alert to the possibility of danger. Sheppard fell back to the rear, still annoyed with McKay. Annoyed, and somewhat confused.

They caught up to McKay just as he finished dialing the gate. It whooshed open, and Sheppard entered his IDC. "Back so soon?" the gate tech's voice called over the radio. "Everything ok?"

"We're good," Sheppard responded. "Long story."

"Come on through," the tech said.

They did, and in moments they stood in the Gate room as the wormhole closed behind them. Weir was already heading down the stairs to meet them, looking slightly concerned. She came up short when she saw what Teyla was holding. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked uncertainly, looking between Teyla and Sheppard.

Sheppard grinned. "Sure is."

Weir came in closer, and was immediately transformed from the leader of Atlantis to a woman who was looking at a cute baby. "Oh," she breathed. "He's beautiful."

McKay rolled his eyes, but at a sharp look from Sheppard, managed to hold his tongue. Ronon looked vaguely uncomfortable with the women and the baby. Sheppard grinned at them.

"What happened?" Weir asked, looking up at Sheppard.

His smiled dropped. "The Lasorian village was completely wiped out by Wraith a couple days ago, from the look of it. The little guy was overlooked."

"Or something," McKay muttered. Sheppard shot him a look.

"You should get him to the infirmary," Weir said, concerned. "He must be dehydrated and exhausted."

"Does he look dehydrated and exhausted?" Rodney asked her. Sheppard and Teyla both scowled at him, but he ignored them. "I mean, look at him, Elizabeth! Does he look like he's been abandoned for days?"

Weir gave McKay a confused look, then looked back at the baby. He was regarding her with half-closed eyes. He looked rather peaceful, but his face was slightly flushed. And he did look sick. "Well…yes," she said finally, looking back up.

McKay looked at her, at Sheppard, and then at the baby. "He looked…better before," he started.

"Ok, that's it!" Sheppard snarled. "Rodney, I know you don't like kids, but you're taking this thing too far! You can't possibly believe that a baby is anything dangerous, and until we have something other than your _intuition_ to rely on, why don't you just keep your opinions to yourself!" He stopped when he realized he had gotten rather loud, and every ear in the Gate room was on him.

McKay looked at him, white-faced and speechless with rage, then wordlessly stalked out of the room, door whooshing shut behind him softly, although the implied slamming was there.

Sheppard looked around, avoiding eye contact. "Uh," he said lamely. "Let's go to the infirmary, then, shall we?"

Teyla and Ronon started off at his suggestion. He started to follow, when Weir's hand on his arm stopped him. "Sheppard."

He stopped and looked at her. " Elizabeth?"

"I'd like to have a word before you go."

Sheppard swallowed, looking at her calm demeanor and her stormy eyes. He waved to Teyla. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up." He followed Weir to her office.

As soon as her door shut, she let the anger show on her face. "John," she said, keeping her voice calm with an effort, "No matter what your personal opinion of Rodney's comments may be, it's entirely unprofessional to dress him down in public like that!"

"Which is why you're dressing me down in private now," Sheppard said, using sarcasm to mask his guilt.

Weir chose to ignore it. "While I agree with you that his distrust of the baby is somewhat over reactive, do you really believe it was a large enough transgression to embarrass him like that in front of his subordinates? And yours? And in front of me?"

Sheppard gritted his teeth. "No, probably not," he ground out.

Weir raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And I'll apologize to him once he's calmed down," Sheppard managed, in the tone of a chastised teenager.

Weir's lip quirked despite herself. "That's all I ask. That, and try to be more professional in the future. I'll talk to Rodney as well about being so…vocal with his doubts," she added, apparently well aware that Sheppard wasn't the only one who had crossed a line.

She dismissed Sheppard, who wandered in the direction of the infirmary, carefully avoiding any of the places McKay might be. By the time he arrived, Beckett had apparently finished his examination of the baby. He was lying asleep on a bed, Teyla perched beside him, and with an IV in his arm. Sheppard winced when he saw that. "How is he, Doc?" he asked, stroking a blond curl from the sleeping infant's forehead.

Beckett smiled down at the sleeping form. "He'll be fine. He was messy, o' course, and dehydrated. Running a fever. Hungry too, once I got him settled."

"So basically, like you'd expect for having been alone for a couple days, right?" Sheppard asked, ignoring Teyla's raised eyebrow.

"Aye," Beckett agreed. "Lucky little tyke. I hear you've taken to calling 'im 'Miracle.'"

Sheppard shrugged. "Well, without Ford to name things, we had to call him something."

"Aye, that's right enough," Beckett said. "I guess he's ours to name and keep now." He looked up at Teyla, who was looking a lot like a protective mother.

She met his gaze. "I would be happy to help care for him," she said in answer to the unasked question.

"Me too," Sheppard agreed, surprising himself.

Beckett smiled at him approvingly. "He has your eyes, you know."

"He—my—what?" Sheppard sputtered, causing Teyla to smile in amusement and Ronon to chuckle from his position by the door.

Beckett grinned. "His eyes are the same color as yours. Although that's unusual, actually."

"What, hazel eyes?" Sheppard asked, hoping his slight flush wasn't showing.

"Well, as you probably know," Beckett said, launching into Lecture Mode, "Caucasian babys' eyes are usually blue or gray at birth. This little guy's only a few months old, from all appearances, and so for him, yes, hazel is very unusual."

"Must be a Pegasus galaxy thing," Sheppard said dismissively.

"Many Athosian babies are born with brown eyes," Teyla agreed. "But not the blond ones, usually."

"In any event, I'm sure it's perfectly normal for a baby Lasorian."

"And now he's the last Lasorian," Ronon commented from the doorway. "The last of his people."

Teyla gave him a sympathetic look. Except for a handful of his people, only recently discovered, Ronon was the last of his kind as well. "He has a family here, now, and a people," she said gently.

Ronon looked up and met her gaze, looking uncomfortable but pleased. He shifted from his position by the door to get a better view of the baby. "So is he going to stay in Atlantis?"

"As compared to what?" Sheppard said, putting a hand protectively on the baby's stomach.

"As compared to getting adopted by, say, an Athosian," Ronon explained patiently.

"Oh," Sheppard said, relaxing. His hand didn't leave the baby, though. "I…don't know. I guess it's up to Elizabeth."

"But not something any of us have to deal with tonight," Beckett said. "I suggest you get some sleep. I need to fix up a crib, so the wee bairn doesn't fall off the bed. Teyla, love, if you'd be so kind as to keep an eye on him while I do that?"

Teyla smiled. "I would be happy to." Sheppard and Ronon, dismissed, headed off together to get something to eat, secure in the knowledge that the baby couldn't be in better hands.


	2. He has your eyes

**Chapter 2 **

The next morning Sheppard avoided breakfast in favor of checking on Miracle Baby. He was also trying to avoid McKay, who was frequently found in the cafeteria. He knew he would have to deal with him eventually, but not just yet. Besides, he, Teyla, and Ronon had to pick a name for their new little buddy. He somehow felt it was their right.

He found the baby still in the same bed, which now had a railing on one side. On the other side, Teyla was curled up asleep. He smiled down at them, then looked up to see Beckett watching them—and him. "Morning," he whispered.

Beckett beckoned him into his office, and half-closed the door. "Mornin', Colonel. Quite the pair, aren't they?"

Sheppard turned back to look at Teyla's sleeping form. "Has she been here all night?"

"Aye. She said she wanted to make sure he was comfortable, then she fell asleep."

"She seems to have taken quite a shine to the little guy."

"She's not the only one," Beckett said knowingly, winking at Sheppard.

Sheppard flushed self-consciously. "Well, he _does _have my eyes," he said somewhat lamely.

Beckett grinned. "Nothin' wrong with it. But I guess you're going to be after Elizabeth to keep him now."

"'Keep him?' What is he, a dog?"

"Well, you were going to name him 'Miracle.'"

"I was not! I was just—" Sheppard broke off when he realized the doctor was teasing him. Wanting to change the subject, he asked, "have you seen Rodney this morning?"

Beckett's expression became puzzled. "As a matter of fact, aye. He was in a little while ago, asking all manner of peculiar questions about the wee one."

Sheppard's face clouded. So McKay was still at it. "What kind of questions?"

"Well, he asked after his health, which was natural. I told him the tyke was dehydrated and the fever and the rest, and he seemed…" Beckett stopped, searching for the right way to put it. "He seemed _puzzled _and maybe a wee bit disappointed, not worried at all."

"That little—" Sheppard said heatedly, all thoughts of apology gone.

"And then the most peculiar thing," Carson continued, "was that he asked was the baby human."

"He doesn't think he's _human_?" Sheppard demanded. "What does he think he is, then, Wraith?"

Beckett shrugged. "I could not tell you. I told him the baby was certainly human, and he left, muttering something about Chaya looking human too."

That was it. Chaya. Leave it to McKay to bring up one of the things that was still a sore point between them. It took all Sheppard's willpower not to go start another screaming match. Instead he stood stiffly. "Thanks, doc." He left, ignoring Beckett's puzzled look.

Sheppard stormed down the hall to the gym, wanting to punch the daylights out of something. McKay would be preferable, but barring that, he would settle for a punching bag. At least now he recognized why he had gotten so angry at McKay yesterday over this. It was the Chaya situation all over again. Only at least then, McKay had chosen an adult to vilify. This time he was picking on a helpless baby. But both times, he had no regard whatsoever for Sheppard's feelings in the matter. Bastard. He angrily pulled on boxing gloves and spent the next hour beating out his aggression.

Teyla awoke later than usual, stretching luxuriously until her arm hit something warm and soft. The baby. She opened her eyes, smiling, as she remembered where she was and whom she was with. She curled around the sleeping infant, gently cupping one cheek in her hand. He looked better this morning, and he had slept peacefully all night. She was certain he would be alright. She frowned slightly, thinking about Rodney's reaction yesterday. It was unlike him to make such harsh accusations with so little evidence. She had not seen anything to cause her to suspect anything duplicitous, and neither had Sheppard or Ronon. She didn't want to dismiss Rodney's concerns lightly, but he had seemed to be…jealous. Her eyes widened. That was it! For some reason, he resented this baby.

She didn't have any more time to puzzle over the enigma wrapped in a mystery that was Rodney McKay, however, as the object of her speculation had just stepped into the room.

"Oh, ah, Teyla," he said, hiding something behind his back. "You're awake."

She smiled at him. "Good morning, Rodney. Have you come to see the baby?"

Rodney smiled in return, but she noticed that the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Sure. Just wanted to see how it was doing." He took a few steps closer, still holding one arm behind his back.

Teyla moved over so Rodney could have an unobstructed view of the baby. "I believe he is doing well."

"Good, good," Rodney said, sounding distracted, staring intently at the baby.

"You do not have much experience with children," Teyla noted.

"Ah, no," Rodney said, glancing at her. "I don't…relate well to them."

Teyla was about to decide that was the source of his suspicion when she saw a flash of electronics behind his back. "Rodney, what are you holding?"

Rodney jerked up, turning to face her and hide whatever was behind his back more fully. "What? Nothing! What do you mean?"

Teyla rolled her eyes. "I believe you are lying to me. You are holding something behind your back. What is it?"

Rodney grimaced and held his hand out to reveal a scanner. "Fine. If you must know, I was just taking some simple readings…"

Teyla narrowed her eyes. " Readings? Of the baby?"

Rodney shifted his eyes away from her gaze guiltily. "Look, Teyla, I know everyone thinks I'm crazy here, but what harm could it do to practice caution? I KNOW something's not right with this baby!"

At his elevated tone, the baby stirred in his sleep. Teyla stroked his stomach and glared at Rodney. "Keep your voice down, or you will wake him!" She hissed.

"Sorry," Rodney said in a voice pitched only slightly lower. "But come on. I have a point here."

Teyla looked at him coldly. For whatever reason, he was interfering with this baby. With this baby and the people who loved him. And she didn't like it. She didn't care if he was jealous because his friends had found someone new, or if he was just uncomfortable around children. He wouldn't use her—the baby as some sort of object to be studied. She very carefully stood up so as not to disturb the baby. She took a step forward. "You will not run your tests on him, Rodney!" She said in a voice that was soft, but full of anger. "You will leave us alone until you come to the conclusion that he is not to be feared or harmed! What is _wrong _with you?" She took another step forward, forcing Rodney back.

Rodney's eyes were wide. "What's wrong with _you_?" He managed. "Look, Teyla—"

"No! Get out!" She forced him another step back, then actually put her hands on his shoulders and gave him a shove towards the door. "Leave him alone!"

Rodney shot her one last glance, full of confusion, anger, and hurt, before his face became stony and he stomped out of the room. Teyla watched him go, then slowly went back to the bed, looking down at the sleeping baby.


	3. What's in a name?

**Chapter 3 **

Sheppard was much more relaxed after his one-person boxing match. He showered and wandered back to the infirmary, grabbing a power bar on the way in lieu of a late breakfast. When he arrived he found the whole gang present: Teyla, Ronon, Carson, and of course the baby, who was now awake. Sheppard came to stand next to the chair where Ronon was sitting with the child. "Hey, little guy," he cooed.

Ronon smiled and held the baby up. "Wanna hold him?"

Sheppard grinned and picked him up. Bright hazel eyes met his own. "Hi," he said stupidly, then looked at Carson. "He's looking better."

Carson smiled. "Aye, he is. He's really very healthy. Now that we've taken care of his dehydration and fever, he's good as new."

"So you've released him, then?"

"Aye," Carson agreed. "But we must make sure to give him plenty of fluids. He's still a wee bit dehydrated."

Sheppard nodded, not really listening. The baby was going to be just fine. That was great news. "So what are we going to name him?" he asked, watching the baby watch him.

"Is it up to us?" Teyla asked.

Sheppard shrugged, finding a seat on a gurney next to Teyla. "Well, there's nobody else to do it. And we're his family now, right?" He looked around at three goofy grins as they all nodded their agreement. "So…name?"

They all looked at each other in silence for a moment. Finally Teyla spoke. "What about Wexel?"

"What? Why would we name him _that_?" Sheppard asked, mystified. What a horrible name.

Teyla looked mildly offended at his tone. "My mother's father was named Wexel. It is an old family name."

Sheppard had the grace to flush slightly. "Ah, sorry. But do we have to? I mean, he doesn't look like a Wexel."

"Of course we do not have to. But no one else was coming up with anything."

"What about Bob?" Sheppard asked after a moment.

"Bob? Are ye out of your bloody mind?" Carson asked mildly. "What more generic name could ye come up with?"

Sheppard made a face. Fine. He was more used to naming Wraith than babies, anyway.

"We could call him Corban," Ronon suggested, sounding oddly hesitant. He hurriedly went on before Sheppard could shoot him down. "Corban's a traditional Satedan name. Means 'gift.'"

"Hey, yeah…" Sheppard said softly, looking at the now-dozing baby. "Gift. Corban. I like it."

"As do I," Teyla agreed.

"Aye," Smiled Carson.

Ronon just looked at them all, grinned, and took the baby back gently from Sheppard's arms. Corban it was.

Several hours later, Sheppard, Teyla, the baby, Beckett, Ronon, and Weir all sat in the conference room. They were trying to decide what to do with the newly christened Corban.

"So you named him," Weir sighed when they proudly introduced him by name. "That's just making this more complicated, gentlemen and lady."

"You're not going to let us keep him," Sheppard said, wondering why the idea bothered him so much. What did he want with a baby, anyway? But one look at Corban, happily chewing on Teyla's hair, and he knew he was in love. And from the looks on the faces of Ronon, Teyla, and Beckett, he knew he wasn't alone.

"Atlantis isn't a safe place to raise a child," Weir pointed out reasonably. "And who would care for him?"

"I will," four voices chorused.

Weir looked between them, mouth quirking in a smile. "Well, that solves that problem, anyway. But need I remind you that raising a child is a full-time job? When are any of you going to find the time to do it? Carson, you barely even find time for sleep. As for the rest of you, you're all on the same team. When one of you is unavailable, you all are."

Sheppard shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sure we could find a babysitter for when we're off-world," he suggested.

"Not to mention," Weir went on, undaunted, "Atlantis isn't exactly safe. The Wraith could figure out at any moment that we're still here. And we would have to baby-proof the city."

"Not the whole city," Ronon said with a smile, "and not for a while. And nowhere is safe from the Wraith."

Weir shook her head. "I'm going to have a lot of opposition, aren't I? Let me think about it. He can at least stay here until he's fully recovered."

Teyla smiled gratefully and snuggled Corban more closely against her chest. He smiled up at her. Sheppard found himself grinning goofily, glad to see the baby was better. Beckett had released him earlier, with the admonition for Teyla to make sure he got plenty of fluids and bring him back if he acted at all unwell. But he looked great.

Weir sighed and stood up. "Ok, you can all go play with the baby. I'll think about it."


	4. Pain and suffering

**Chapter 4 **

It was 2:00a.m., and Sheppard couldn't get back to sleep. He had spent an enjoyable afternoon and evening with Teyla, Ronon, Carson, and Corban, and had a pleasant dinner, followed by going straight to bed. He should be sleeping. But he couldn't. He couldn't help thinking that this was the longest he had gone without seeing or talking to McKay since…since…well, since Doranda, actually. He grimaced at the thought. He had been so mad at the betrayal of trust then. As he had when McKay hadn't trusted Chaya. As he felt now. Why did Rodney have to be so…so…dammit. So close to him that his opinion of things _mattered _so damned much? It wouldn't bother Sheppard to the same degree if, say, Elizabeth didn't trust the baby. It was important to him to have Rodney on the same page about this.

With a final sigh, he gave up on sleep and got up, dressing in the dim glow of the Ancient equivalent of night lights. He would go try to talk to McKay, assuming he was still up, which he usually was. It would more than likely turn into another shouting match, but he had to at least try to make the man see that he was wrong, dead wrong, about this baby.

He finished getting dressed, unconsciously slipping on his 9mm. He smiled when he realized he had done it, reached to remove the weapon, then left it with a shrug. It was such an ingrained habit to wear it at all times, what was the harm in wearing it now? It wasn't like he was going to shoot McKay or anything. Any argument they were about to have was going to be verbal.

He headed down to McKay's lab. If he was there, fine, they would talk. If not, he would give up for the night, knowing he had at least tried to open up communications again. He paused outside the door to the lab, trying to figure out what to say, when he heard a muffled whump from inside.

He hit the panel and opened the door, to be greeted with something out of his worst nightmares. He just stood for a moment, completely frozen in a combat situation for the first time in his life.

Rodney was pinned halfway up the wall by a red tentacle around his throat. His eyes were closed and his face was scrunched up with pain as he tried to breath through the choking hold. His fingers were wrapped around the tentacle, trying to pry it loose. The tentacle was long, attached to the monster in the center of the room. The two-foot high monster with blond curls. Blond curls, hazel eyes, and a huge red tentacle growing out of its head.

Sheppard finally snapped into action, drawing his weapon and firing it several times into the head the tentacle was attached to, trying desperately not to think about how he was shooting Corban. This was not Corban. He realized with horror that there had never _been _a Corban. And now, that _thing _in the lab was trying to silence the only person who had known.

It shrieked as the bullets slammed into it, dropping its pray. Sheppard leapt across the room as Rodney slid to the floor, blinking weakly. "Rodney!" Sheppard called as he reached his friend's side. "You ok?" he asked, still keeping his attention focused on the monster in the floor, hoping it was dead, hoping it wasn't.

"It…it was _feeding_!" came Rodney's horror-filled reply. Sheppard turned back to him to take in his drawn appearance, and the presence of a row of small, bloody sucker marks on his neck.

"Oh my god," he choked out, inspecting the wound. It wasn't bleeding much, but it seemed to be painful. What was it doing, sucking blood? No, wait, the shape of those marks…

"How much older?" Rodney asked quietly, voice hoarse, as Sheppard realized what he was seeing.

Sheppard looked Rodney in the face, his eyes meeting terrified blue ones. In truth, much to his relief, there didn't appear to be any aging. "You're fine," he said. Rodney looked at him for a moment, before apparently deciding to believe him.

Sheppard turned back to the doorway at the sound of footsteps. Teyla appeared. "John! I can't find Corban—" She broke off abruptly as she took in the scene in front of her. Suddenly, the creature on the floor moved. It shot straight for her. Before Sheppard could react, it slammed past her, flinging her into a wall with mind-numbing force, and slithered out the door.

"Teyla!" Sheppard and McKay both called in horror. Sheppard reached her first, but Rodney was right behind him.

Their eyes met briefly. "Go," Rodney said. "I've got her. You get it."

Sheppard nodded and ran out the door after it, activating his radio as he did so. "Lorne! Stackhouse! Miller! Any Marine! We have a hostile alien _thing_, heading north out of McKay's lab. Intercept with caution. Use lethal force if necessary."

"Sir, what's going on?" Lorne's voice came back.

"McKay was right about that baby," Sheppard gasped out, still running full-speed down the corridor. Damn, that thing was fast. It was out of sight already. "It's some sort of tentacle thing with Wraithlike properties."

"So it's a Wraithtopus," Lorne said before he could stop himself. Sheppard was reminded of Ford and his penchant for naming things. Not a good thing to be reminded of at the moment.

"Mind on the matter at hand, Major," he snapped. "I've lost sight of it. Anyone in the Gate room able to give me its location?"

"Not yet," came the voice of Wilson, gate tech on night duty. "There are too many people out there now. I can't tell which is which."

"It's showing up as people and not Wraith?" Sheppard demanded.

"Yes, sir. Or it's not showing up at all."

"Dammit!" he yelled, running in the direction he had last seen it.

oOo

Back in his lab, Rodney looked down at Teyla, his own injuries momentarily forgotten. She sat where she had fallen when she slid down the wall. Her head seemed to be slumping too far over onto her shoulder. He reached to take her pulse, then though better of it, checking her wrist instead. He let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding when he found one. It was fast and fluttery, but it was there. He leapt to his feet, nearly falling over as a wave of dizziness hit him. Shaking it off, he rushed over to his bench and grabbed his radio. He flipped it from the military channel to the general purpose one. " Carson! Carson!" He tried for volume, but his abused throat balked at the attempt, making him cough.

"Aye, lad, what is it?" Came Beckett's sleepy voice after a moment.

"Medical emergency! My lab! I think Teyla's neck may be broken!" He managed to keep the worst of his panic out of his voice as he staggered over to her again. He was relieved beyond measure to see her eyes were slightly open and she was watching him.

"What happened?" Carson asked, voice completely awake now.

"She was thrown against a wall. Hard," Rodney replied. He decided to leave out exactly _what _had thrown her for now, since that was likely to generate questions that took up time. "Hurry!"

"Have you taken her pulse?" Carson asked. In the background, Rodney could hear the sounds of people moving around, hopefully assembling a gurney.

"Yes. It's weak and fast, but she has one. And she's awake, kind of," Rodney said, realizing he was babbling somewhat, but unable to slow the words down.

"Alright. Keep calm and keep her still. We'll be right there. Rodney?"

"Yes?" Rodney asked, trying hard to fight down panic.

"Keep her from moving her head. I mean it."

Rodney must have made some sort of agreeing noise, because Carson clicked off the connection. He stared back at Teyla, who seemed to be trying to say something. He gently put both hands on her shoulders. "Shh. Don't try to talk," he said in a soothing voice that only broke once.

"R…odney," she breathed, voice the softest of whispers. Tears began to run down her face.

"Oh god, don't do that," Rodney said, at a loss. He very, very gently reached up and caressed her cheek. "Don't move. Help's almost here."

"Rodney," she repeated, voice a little stronger, although now it was choked with tears. "I am…so sorry."

That was the last thing Rodney had been expecting. "Teyla, don't," he protested weakly. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. Just sit tight and Carson will be right here and he'll get you all fixed up and you can apologize for whatever you like when you're feeling better but for now for god's sake don't try to move or talk or anything because I'm pretty sure you have a neck injury and moving will only make it worse…" he paused for breath, realizing that he probably wasn't really helping, and was only making the pain in his throat worse. "It's ok," he finished, trying to smile. It didn't feel like it came out very well, though.

Teyla closed her eyes. "You are a good man," she said before succumbing to unconsciousness. Rodney sat watching her, listening with half an ear as Elizabeth came on the city-wide and told everyone to remain in their quarters with the doors locked. He was just beginning to panic and was reaching for Teyla's pulse again when Carson and half the medical team arrived.

Rodney let himself be pushed aside as they descended on her. He watched as she was gently, gently immobilized and transferred to the gurney. Carson barked orders in his soft Scottish brogue, getting her settled. He was about to whisk her out of the room when he turned to peer at Rodney, sitting forgotten against the wall. "What happened to your neck, then?" he asked.

Rodney put a hand to his neck, surprised. He had forgotten all about that. His hand came away bloody, and he swallowed, forcing down a panic attack at the memory of that…thing strangling and sucking the life out of him. God, if Sheppard hadn't come along exactly when he did… "It—it attacked me with tentacles and it was sucking my life force or something and I couldn't stop it…" Rodney babbled, beginning to tremble. He looked up in surprise when a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Rodney?" Carson asked gently.

Rodney managed to pull himself together with supreme effort. "Take care of Teyla," he managed. "I'll follow you to the infirmary."

Carson nodded and stood up reluctantly. "See that you do, lad. And I'll be wanting a full explanation when you can talk again." He gestured to a nurse, who fell back, gently offering Rodney a hand up.

He took her hand and let her help him up, suddenly feeling very, very tired. And his neck hurt. A lot. It really did hurt to talk, so he didn't say anything on the way to the infirmary. He did, however, switch his radio to the military channel and listen in.


	5. Discussing

**Chapter 5 **

"Where the hell did it _go_?" Sheppard demanded as he tried another hallway. He had lost the thing almost immediately. It left no trail, and was faster than him. He had met a couple of teams from other directions, so they had it narrowed down to a few places it wasn't, like in the direction of the infirmary (thank god), but that still left a lot of city, and the more time passed, the more places it could be. "Talk to me, Wilson."

"Sir," came Wilson's frustrated voice, "I don't think our scanners are picking it up. It's cloaked itself somehow. All I'm getting are you and your teams."

"Dammit!" Sheppard swore, punching a wall. "Ow," he added as his hand exploded with pain. Ok, not such a good anger-management strategy. "Ok. We'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way." At least the civilians were safe. As soon as she heard any of what was going on, Weir had gone on the city-wide and told everyone to stay in their quarters and lock the doors. Since it was the middle of the night, very few people had been out wandering. Those that were had been immediately rounded up by Sheppard's people and herded to a safer area. Everyone was now accounted for.

That is, assuming the thing couldn't go through locked doors. But Wilson would be able to see if any doors opened, and he had teams almost everywhere that could investigate it. So far, it was as if the thing had just vanished. Which, he supposed, wasn't completely impossible, considering it had masqueraded as a baby for two days. How the hell did he not see it for what it was? How the hell HAD McKay seen it? He felt his anger rise: anger at that thing for making him care about it, anger at McKay for being so _right _all the time, mostly anger at himself, for being such a stupid bastard. More than anything he wanted to catch the thing and kill it.

"Oh, dear lord," Lorne said conversationally over the comm. Immediately after that statement, Sheppard heard the unmistakable sound of P-90 fire.

"Lorne! Report! Wilson, where are they!" Sheppard began to run in the direction he remembered having last sent Lorne's team.

"Three corridors to your right, half a mile down," came Wilson's rapid reply. "And it's showing up on the scanner now. As Wraith."

"So the bastard _was _cloaked!" Sheppard muttered, willing his legs to move faster. "Lorne!"

"We're…here," Lorne panted in reply. "We're…ok. What the _hell _is this thing?"

"We don't know. But be careful. It sucks like a Wraith."

"It sucks like a lot of things," Lorne commented, and Sheppard suspected he was trying to make a joke. "But it appears to be dead."

"Negative on that," Wilson said. "I'm still reading a life sign from it."

"Well, hell," Lorne responded. "How much does it take to kill it?"

"Try not to. I'd like it alive for questioning," Sheppard panted, still running. "All teams except Stackhouse's, converge on Lorne's position. Stackhouse, take your team to get one of those portable stasis pods that we found last week out near the North pier. I have a feeling this thing's not going to go quietly to a cell."

His teams acknowledged his orders, and he finally rounded the last corner. Lorne and four other Marines were standing around the creature, which was lying on the floor twitching slightly. "Shoot it if it tries to get up," Sheppard commented, stepping closer.

It no longer looked even remotely human. It was now a round red…thing, with seven smallish tentacles, about the size of arms, and the one long one. It was bleeding an orangish-scarlet substance on the floor. Sheppard wandered a little closer, holding his weapon pointed at it. From here he could see the large feeding tentacle, covered with a longitudinal row of quarter-sized versions of the Wraith feeding apparatus. "Damn," he breathed.

"Sir," Lorne said from beside him, "what is it? I mean, seriously?"

"I still don't know, Lorne," Sheppard said. "But you heard about the baby my team found yesterday…day before yesterday?"

"Yes?" Lorne said hesitantly.

Sheppard gestured. "Well, that's the baby."

"Sir," Lorne said after studying the tentacle thing for a moment, "how did you think that was a baby?"

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "It didn't exactly look like _that _when we found it!"

"Yes, sir," Lorne said, then wisely lapsed into silence. They stood waiting for it to try to move again, while around them, teams began to arrive. By the time Stackhouse's team arrived with the stasis pod, ninety percent of Atlantis's military force was pressed in the hallway.

Sheppard looked at the pod, wishing McKay was there to turn it on. He should be able to figure it out, but he didn't want to accidentally set it for a timed release of the thing or something. Thinking about Rodney was a bit painful at the moment, though. He had a massive apology coming his way from the stupidest Lieutenant Colonel in Atlantis. But that would have to wait. Right now, he needed a scientist to get the pod to work.

"Are there any scientists on this channel?" he asked.

"I am here, Colonel," came Radek Zelenka's instant reply.

"You been listening long, Zelenka?" he asked.

"From the moment Doctor Weir came on city-wide, yes," Zelenka replied. "I am assuming that you are wondering about operation of stasis pod, yes?"

"Yes," Sheppard agreed. "How's it work?"

"Control panel's on the side," Zelenka said. "There are…six buttons, I believe. Do you see it?"

"Yep," Sheppard said, peering at the buttons and keeping an eye on the creature at the same time. He was now very close to it.

"Ok," Zelenka continued, "Second button from left opens pod. Third one closes it. First one powers it. If that's all you press, then it keeps contents in stasis without releasing it until either you release it or power runs out."

"And… how much power will it have?" Sheppard asked, aware that they had found the pods in slightly old, beat up condition.

"I do not know. We haven't run diagnostic on that yet. I suggest you get it to a cell quickly."

"I…ran a diagnostic," a third voice broke in, sounding hoarse and pained. Rodney.

"Rodney? How's…" Sheppard stopped himself before he finished asking.

"I don't know," Rodney said, answering him anyway. "I'm not in—dammit, I'm trying to talk here," he interrupted himself, apparently talking to someone in the room with him. "Carson's with her," he finished. "But back to the pod. You don't have much power. Once you turn it on—" he broke off, coughing.

"Run like bunny to holding cell," Zelenka finished for him.

"Good luck, Colonel," Rodney said, and clicked off.

"Thanks, Rodney, Radek." In reply he heard Zelenka's connection close. So Rodney was apparently listening with his mic turned off. Sheppard wondered suddenly how often the man listened in on channels like that. Zelenka too, for that matter. He suddenly wondered if all the scientists listened in on the military channel. Not that it was a private channel, but still…it bothered him slightly to have an unknown number of civilians eavesdropping like that.

"Ok, people," he said briskly, turning back to the wraithtopus.. "Time to do this thing." He hit the second button, and the chamber opened. It was about the size of a coffin, with enough room to hold one adult Ancient. Or in this case, one ugly red tentacle thing. But first, they had to get it in there. And that would involve getting really a lot closer to the still-alive monster than he wanted to.

Lorne had seen the problem as well. He handed off his weapon and took a step closer. "I'll do it," he volunteered, making Sheppard glad to have him in Atlantis.

Sheppard nodded, handing off his own weapon. "Ok, _we'll_ do it. If it moves," he added, glancing at the Marines around them, "Shoot it." He looked back at Lorne. "On three. One. Two. Three." They quickly stepped forward and lifted it. It was surprisingly light, and Sheppard realized it still weighed as much as a baby. The thing must be hollow. It was unwieldy and slippery, though, and it took them two tries to get it into the pod. With a sigh of relief, Sheppard closed the pod and activated it. "Got it," he said out loud, mostly for the benefit of Rodney and Zelenka, but also for the people waiting in the Gate room.

"Good job," Weir's voice came on.

Sheppard smiled. Now to get it to a cell. "Lorne, you guys," he gestured at a random group standing behind Lorne, "come with me. The rest of you, as you were. And as Elizabeth said, good job." The knot of Marines dispersed and went away as directed, as he and his people carried the creature to a cell. The power held on the pod, and as soon as the creature was safely locked in a cell, Sheppard sighed in relief and headed to the infirmary, trying to wipe orangish blood off his hands as he went. As he walked, he heard Weir on the city-wide sound the all-clear for anyone who wanted to leave their quarters. Although who would want to be up at 3am?

oOo

Sheppard practically ran into a doctor as he rushed through the door of the infirmary. "Sorry," he muttered, skirting the woman and looking for Rodney. He saw his friend propped up in bed, neck wreathed in bandages. He was watching Sheppard out of weary eyes. He was no longer wearing his radio. Ronon was standing halfway across the room, positioned equidistant to Rodney's bed and the OR, leaning against a wall.

Sheppard sank down on a chair that just happened to be next to the bed. " Carson's still with her," Rodney said softly. "She was alive when she went in, but I don't know if…"

Sheppard stopped him with a hand on his arm. "He's the best doctor in two galaxies. If anyone can help her, he can."

Rodney gently pulled his arm out from under Sheppard's hand, looking with disgust at the monster blood smear that was now on his wrist. "Ick. I know. It's just…do you know how badly she was hurt?"

Sheppard shook his head. He knew it had been bad, but he hadn't stopped to look, trusting Rodney to take care of her. "No. How bad?"

Rodney closed his eyes. "That thing broke her neck."

Sheppard felt the color drain out of his face. "But…she was alive?" he asked. He remembered the answer, but he had to hear it again.

"She was alive," Rodney confirmed.

They sat quietly. A nurse brought over a wet cloth, and Sheppard wiped his hands off with it, getting rid of most of the blood. The same nurse gave a sanitary wipe to Rodney, who absently toweled off his wrist, not devoting the usual amount of disgust to having alien blood smeared on his person. "How're you doing?" Sheppard asked when they were done, putting his hand on Rodney's arm again, noticing with relief that he didn't pull away this time.

Rodney turned to look at him. "Are you serious? I was strangled and…and _sucked on _by the octopus from hell!" His voice rose slightly and he coughed. He stopped to take a drink of water before continuing. "The doctors said it doesn't look too bad, and I've looked in a mirror and I don't look older, but…but…"

Sheppard squeezed his arm. "I think it was more like the Iratus bug. It doesn't seem to make you older when it feeds."

Rodney shuddered at the mention of the bug, remembering it clamped firmly to Sheppard's neck. "Thanks for that image, Colonel. But this one let go when you shot it."

It was Sheppard's turn to shudder, remembering the bug that didn't let go, no matter what they did to it. "Yeah," he agreed weakly.

"Sheppard," Rodney said, looking at him earnestly, "if you hadn't come to my lab when you did, I'd be dead. Thanks for that."

Sheppard shrugged self-consciously. "That's why you should never work alone," he quipped to cover his discomfort.

"Why exactly _were _you in my lab at two in the morning?" Rodney asked, eyes narrowing.

Oh, good. This was the fun part. "I was coming to apologize," he said quietly.

Rodney looked at him a moment, then started laughing softly. He was laughing. Sheppard was just wondering how hard he had it the wall when he explained. "Sorry. It's just so ironic that you were, what, coming to make an insincere apology mandated by one Doctor Weir when you were confronted with the proof that I was right all along." He stopped laughing and looking at Sheppard, sensing he might have gone too far.

Sheppard felt himself bristle, but didn't give in to it. Rodney was right; he was wrong. Time to be a man about it. But Rodney was wrong about one thing. "No," he said softly, looking down. "I wasn't coming to apologize because Weir told me to. Although she did," he admitted, eliciting a snort from Rodney. "I was coming to apologize because I was wrong. At that point I still didn't know about the tentacle thing, but I was wrong to yell at you like that. And I'm sorry. That's what I was coming to say." He decided it might be best to leave out the part where he was also going to try to convince Rodney he was wrong to doubt the baby. That was one tidbit of information that _nobody _ever had to know.

Rodney looked at him for a long moment, then waved a hand dismissively. "Oh that? So what? Back on earth I used to get dressed down in front of everyone on a semi-regular basis."

Sheppard stared. "You weren't mad?"

"Oh, I was plenty mad. Just not about that. I was mad because you and the others were being so…so…" He clenched his fist in frustration, unable to find the words he was looking for. Or unable to say them.

"We trusted a stranger more than we trusted you," Sheppard said softly, catching on. _This _was what the Chaya thing had been about last year, as well. He hadn't seen it until now.

"Well, yeah," Rodney said. "That, and dammit, I was _right _about Chaya! I was right. You should be able to give my intuition a little bit of credibility after that."

Sheppard shifted uncomfortably. Chaya hadn't been a threat, but she could have been. And the baby octopus from hell certainly had been. "I will after this," he conceded. Rodney opened his mouth to say something, but Sheppard cut him off. "Why exactly were you so suspicious? What did you see that we didn't?"

Rodney's mouth quirked. "While you all were cooing over the cute little baby, I was looking at the facts."

"Are you saying we let our emotions get in the way?" Sheppard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why no, Colonel. It's completely logical go lapse into baby talk the moment you see something like that." The half-smile dropped from his face when he saw Sheppard's expression. "I'm sorry it wasn't real," he said gently.

Sheppard grimaced. "Me too. I can't believe I got to attached in so short a time."

"You're biological clock must be ticking," Rodney commented, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "But seriously," he added, "when we found it, it was too healthy. And then, did you notice that every time someone would comment on that, and then say what it _should _be experiencing, then _bam_, it started to? We noticed it was dehydrated right after someone said it should be."

Sheppard stared. "You're right! And _that_ means, it understands our language. I'm going to be having a nice, long talk with this thing when it wakes up."

Rodney shuddered. "Not me. I do wonder what it is, though. It seems to be another Wraith-like being, but with a lot more intelligence than the Iratus bug." He stopped talking and started coughing again, touching his throat in pain.

A doctor stepped forward. "Dr. McKay, you're going to have to stop talking. Colonel, if you keep making him converse with you, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Rodney rolled his eyes at Sheppard, then made the universal symbol for locking his lips and throwing away the key. Sheppard stifled a grin. "I'll be good."

The doctor nodded and walked away. Rodney opened his mouth, but Sheppard held up a hand. "No, the doc is right. You shouldn't hurt your throat any more. Get some rest. I'll wake you when Carson comes out."

"I'm fine," Rodney protested, mostly for the sake of defiance. After that, though, he did as he was told, and was soon breathing with the heavy evenness of deep, well-deserved sleep.


	6. Wrapping things up

**Chapter 6 **

Sheppard awoke to a hand gently shaking his shoulder. He looked up to see Ronon looking down at him. The Satedan looked exhausted. "Teyla's out," he said.

Sheppard sat up straighter, seeing Beckett sink exhaustedly down into a chair on the other side of Rodney's bed. Sheppard reached over and shook Rodney's arm, eliciting a groan from the scientist and a glare from Beckett.

"What do ye think you're doing?" Carson demanded.

"I told him I'd wake him," Sheppard shrugged, stifling a yawn. "Wake up, Rod van Winkle."

Rodney's eyes snapped open. "Do not EVER call me that again," he said hoarsely, then coughed. Beckett quietly handed him a cup of water. After he took a drink, he locked eyes with the doctor. "Well?"

Beckett moved his gaze to take in all three of Teyla's teammates. "Well, she'll live. Lucky, lucky lass. Her neck is broken, but her spine didn't sustain much movement before we could stabilize her."

Everyone relaxed slightly at his words. Teyla was going to live. "What about…you know, paralysis?" Rodney asked hesitantly. "I mean, her head did fall over to the side."

"Well, we won't know for certain until she wakes up, lad, but I'm cautiously optimistic."

"What does that mean, 'cautiously optimistic?'" Rodney demanded, sending himself into a coughing fit. As Beckett gave him more water, Sheppard patted his arm. "Means just what it sounds like. He doesn't know, but he's hoping for the best." He winked at Beckett's glare. "But I know Teyla, and she'll be fine."

Rodney looked at him uncertainly, then glanced at Ronon, who had been quiet throughout. "He's right," the runner said softly. "She's one of the strongest people I know."

Rodney looked at him a moment longer, then nodded. "Yeah," he agreed.

"And now," Beckett said briskly, standing up, "we are all going to go to our beds and get some sleep. Except you, Rodney, who's going to sleep right where you are."

"I'm fine here," Sheppard protested, but he broke eye contact with Beckett's glare.

"Rodney needs his sleep, Colonel, as do you. Go. To. Bed. Come back in a few hours, if you must."

Sheppard stood up unhappily. That was apparently the best he was going to get. He bid them all good-night (or good morning, to be accurate, as it was nearly six), and headed off to his quarters. He decided he would take a shower, have a meal, and then try to sneak back into the infirmary while Beckett was still sleeping. He sat down on his bed to take off his boots, and woke up nearly four hours later.

He staggered out of bed and into the shower, slightly upset that he had fallen asleep, more upset that Beckett had been right that he needed it. He used the old trick of alternately hot and cold water to wake himself up. Then, feeling somewhat refreshed, got dressed and headed straight to the infirmary, skipping breakfast. He headed for Rodney's bed, found it empty, and followed the sound of quiet voices behind a curtain across the room.

"Cinnamon," Rodney was saying as Sheppard came around the curtain.

"Sinful," Ronon replied. "Too easy. Oh, Sheppard." He said, acknowledging Sheppard's arrival.

"Sheepdog," Rodney said, then turned to wave. They were seated on opposite sides of Teyla's bed, obviously playing some sort of inane game to pass the time until she woke up. Sheppard looked at her. She looked frail, wearing a neck brace, surrounded by monitors, with dark circles under her eyes.

"Wrong sound, McKay," Ronon said. "It should be something like…like…" He stood to let Sheppard have the seat.

"Ah-ha!" Rodney said triumphantly. "You can't think of anything better, can you?"

"What the hell are you two doing?" Sheppard asked, still looking at Teyla, but curious despite himself.

"Well," Rodney explained, "Ronon can't seem to get the hang of Prime Not Prime, and I refuse to play I Spy. So we've invented this game. It's First Syllable." He was still speaking softly, probably to keep from disturbing Teyla, but his voice sounded better.

"How's your throat?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney's hand went to the bandages. "Still hurts, but not enough to warrant being in bed. Carson assures me I'm going to live," The last he said lightly, but a slightly haunted look in his eyes revealed that he hadn't been too sure of the effects of the Wraithtopus tentacle suckers.

Sheppard nodded, then looked back at Teyla. "She wake up at all?"

Ronon shook his head. "No, but nobody expects her to. We're trying a strategy McKay wanted to check out."

Sheppard looked at Rodney, narrowing his eyes. "What might that be?"

Rodney grinned. "We're trying to annoy her into waking up."

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Remind me never to be unconscious around you two again."

Rodney's grin dissolved into a smirk. "What makes you think we haven't already tried it on you?"

Sheppard looked between the two of them, trying to figure out if Rodney was serious. But he realized, looking around at his team, that it didn't matter. What mattered was that Rodney and Ronon had enough in common to play games, and cared enough to devise strategies to wake Teyla up. They were a team, and a good one. He was proud of that.

He was interrupted when Teyla scrunched up her eyes and moaned softly. All eyes turned to her, and she was obviously trying to wake up. Sheppard and Rodney each took a hand, and Ronon put his hand on her forehead.

She writhed slightly, squeezing her eyes more tightly shut, gripping their hands, and curling her toes, then relaxed back into sleep. But it had been enough. Rodney caught Sheppard's eye, then Ronon's, and all three grinned. She had just proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could move all her extremities. She would be ok.

oOo

**Epilogue**

Teyla was trying to eat a cup of jello when Sheppard walked into her room two days later. Ronon was holding the cup and spoon for her, Rodney was trying to tell them how to do it, and Teyla was looking annoyed at both of them.

Sheppard sat down next to her with a grin. "How's it going?" he asked, glad to see her looking better.

She made a face. "Very well. Doctor Beckett tells me I will be fine in time. Now if we could just do something about the volunteer help…" she glared at Ronon and Rodney, but her eyes twinkled.

Sheppard's grin widened. "Ok, guys, leave her alone. You're obviously not helping, and something tells me Teyla can feed herself."

"That is what I have been trying to tell them," Teyla said, grateful for the support. She grabbed the spoon out of Ronon's hand. "There is nothing wrong with my hands."

"No, but Carson told you not to move around," Rodney said. "Hence, the feeding you."

Sheppard turned his attention to the scientist. He sounded almost normal, although his throat was still swathed in bandages. There didn't seem to be any lasting ill effects from the wraithtopus feeding. Sheppard still wasn't sure what the actual attack had been like, and Rodney wasn't talking about it.

"So," Rodney said, looking at Sheppard, "have you talked to it yet?"

Teyla and Ronon turned to look at him as well, jello forgotten.

Sheppard sighed. This was going to be hard to say. "No. It never woke up. Died a few hours ago."

"So we're just never going to know what it was, then, or what it wanted!" Rodney said in frustration.

"It obviously wanted us to bring it here," Teyla said. "And we obligingly did that." She looked guiltily at Rodney.

He fidgeted awkwardly. "Come on, Teyla, it wasn't your fault. It did a good job of pretending."

"It didn't fool you," Ronon pointed out. Apparently Teyla wasn't the only one feeling bad about being tricked.

Rodney looked even more uncomfortable. "Well, no, but I _am _a genius," he said somewhat lamely. "Look. It was probably…I don't know, casting some sort of spell on you or something."

"McKay, are you trying to make us feel better?" Sheppard asked, half amused at the attempt and half uncomfortable because it was appreciated.

"That depends on whether or not it's working," Rodney said. "But basically, we're never going to know exactly what it was up to. Or why it attacked me, for that matter," he added.

"Well, I'm going to go way out in a limb here and say it was because you were a threat to it," Sheppard said. "It was probably afraid you were going to blow its cover."

"Perhaps," Rodney said. "Unless it wanted something in my lab, and my presence was just incidental."

"Well, it's dead, so we'll never know," Ronon said. "It can never bother us again."

Sheppard agreed, although he was far from satisfied at how the whole thing had turned out. But at least none of his teammates had died. He picked up the cup of jello and offered it to Teyla.


End file.
